At an inquest into her death, the family of Zara Aleena have shared the “torture” of thinking her murder was “preventable”.

Aleena, a 35-year-old law graduate, was attacked and killed by Jordan McSweeney as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in June 2022. McSweeney, who had been described during his trial as a “danger to any woman”, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years at the Old Bailey in December 2022 after admitting to her murder and sexual assault.

In November 2023, following a court of appeal challenge, he had his minimum prison sentence reduced after three judges found the sentencing judge had imposed too high an “uplift” to McSweeney’s minimum term and cut it to 33 years.

Zara Aleena’s death was “preventable”, her family tell inquest into her murder